Genesis
by Life's a cookie
Summary: From the very beginning, no one truly knew Roxas' story. And so nobody ever will... except for one. What exactly happened that year when the boy named Sora was asleep... ...? -AkuRoku - heavily edited chapters
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters mentioned here and essentially, i do not own any part that is related to the gawd-almighty Square-Enix.

**Author's Note:** (See end of chapter.)

* * *

_There are times when there are no dreams. _

_Sometimes I just cannot remember anything._

_Sometimes I'm a boy I don't even know._

_Sometimes I wake up to a glistening emerald._

.

..

...

…_Why do they weep…?_

...

..

.

_And then sometimes_

_I realize the tears were_

_Mine._

* * *

Roxas was an ordinary boy; a perfectly normal teenager who had the very same problems that any of his peers had. He had a great bunch of friends that he knew from way back, a craze for videogames and an addiction for the town's famous sea-salt ice-cream… Completely normal stuff.

But that's just what he tells himself.

In reality, however, Roxas was far from normal. For one, he could recall nothing from more than a year ago; he didn't truly know what he meant when he told people he and his friends went 'way back'. Exactly how long have they been together? Roxas could never remember. Those memories just don't exist.

Sure, everybody has dreams. But what about dreams where everything seems so real that there are days you can't quite tell which is the real world. Is it the one with your little gang in a place called Twilight Town? Is it the one with many cloaked in black? Or could it actually be the one where you seem to be in another person's body. The one where you hang out with people you don't even know and yet your heart tells you that you do?

Roxas would never tell anyone but there have been times when he felt a nagging feeling in him that made him muse over the possibility that he may not really be from this world.

How normal is that?

* * *

Roxas stared in utter disbelief at the very same shade of emerald that occasionally stalked his dreams. Those startling green eyes, that flaming red hair. How could anyone forget? How could he have forgotten. How could-…. Nothing was making any sense!

"Roxas."

It was only then that it sunk in that the redhead before him was beginning to disappear.

"Axel…" The blonde took a step forward then halted. What was the point.

"_Let's meet again in the next life." _

_--_

Everything was a blinding white. It was an infinite space; there was no start, and there was no end. Roxas tried for a moment to adjust to the surroundings but he didn't even know if he was standing. There didn't seem to be a ground. He felt so… light.

Where was he?

"Hey."

A familiar baritone voice echoed about. Roxas looked around hastily to locate the source.

"When I said to meet in the next life, I didn't quite expect it to be this quick."

The teen felt an involuntary smile spread across his lips.

"I-is this…"

"Heaven? No, I doubt it. Can't be such a letdown, don't you think Rox?" Axel strode towards the boy, that slight swagger still apparent. Lithe fingers encircled the boy's small wrist. Roxas looked questioningly at the grip.

"Come with me for a bit."

With a slight tug, Roxas found himself following the lanky male. In truth, he still couldn't say for certain that he had regained any knowledge about the redhead that was stowed somewhere deep within him but for an unfathomable reason, it was without a second thought that he trusted the man.

It was sometime in between his dazed trail of thought that with the blink of an eye, Roxas found himself in a different place. Still unfocused, the blonde shuffled his feet and adrenaline raced through him when his foot met with no ground.

Deftly, Axel reached out and yanked the boy tightly against his unusually thin body. Not letting go, he semi-carried Roxas cautiously along the ledge, saying nothing at all. The shock slowly ebbed and a blush tainted his cheeks at the realization that he was still enveloped in Axel's embrace.

"Sit." Roxas followed the command, gingerly lowering himself down. A soft thump came right after him as his companion positioned himself shoulder to shoulder.

They were back at the clock tower of Twilight Town.

"I'm so confused. All I recall is losing myself to somebody called Sora… S-Sor… I don't even know why I know his name! H-"

"Roxas!"

Out of reflex, the blonde's hand went over his mouth. He hadn't meant to ramble. Quietly, he watched the frown leave the redhead's pale face. Axel stretched himself out, resting his weight on his arms before turning to face Roxas with severity.

"Rox, what is this tower to you?"

"Wha-? Well, home, I guess."

"Hn… yeah, you always were fond of heights."

"Axel? Why do you have that black cloak?"

"What kind of question's that, Rox? That's like me asking you why you're wearing those god awful pants."

The teen felt his eye twitch with annoyance. He wasn't an idiot, for crying out loud.

"I just remember seeing it from somewhere else." He gritted out. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue.

"Oh. Er, it was something we all were given upon joining the Organization. You have one too."

"T-That's not possible! I've never even been in any organization! I'm still in High School, Axel-"

"No, you're not."

Irately, Roxas retorted, "Well, of course not NOW, I'm not. I don't even know – "

"Roxas, stop it." Axel sat up straight and his emerald eyes narrowed. "Listen to me. You were never supposed to _exist_."

"Why are people telling me this? First Naminé, now you…" the blonde murmured with exasperation.

"You weren't supposed to exist HERE. All of this is just a simulation, Roxas. As I've told you, this world; this town, is not real."

The growing suspicion, that Roxas always had, began bubbling inside him after remaining dormant for so long. Could it be that he really wasn't from this place?

"Can you remember anything from more than a year ago?"

This was a serious case of déjà vu.

"Did you ever wonder why?" the teen nodded his assent.

"I associated it with amnesia…" Axel barked a laugh of disbelief, startling the quiet blonde.

"Amnesia… hah. Perhaps that is one way putting it. Roxas, it was exactly a year ago that you were taken away from me. Or rather, that you left and would never return."

Roxas knew what the redhead was referring to. That scene had plagued Roxas constantly after it first surfaced and it now returned in full force.

"_You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!" Axel yelled after him._

_A cloaked Roxas barely broke his stride as he replied. _

"_No one would miss me…"_

"You haven't the faintest idea how much that hurt, Roxy - " the softened voice said.

"I do."

Axel stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. For what I did back then…"

"Your memories - "

The blonde shook his unruly locks. "There are a lot of blank spaces but I do have some flashbacks."

Axel didn't bother making any effort to hide his sadness.

"But… at least it's a start."

An uncomfortable silence fell and Roxas found himself at a loss for words. Not knowing what to do, he opted for looking into the horizon while trying to resist the urge to fidget.

"Did you see that picture of us?"

"Naminé said we were best friends…"

"Ah. So that's how you knew what to say to me. You had gotten my hopes up... "

"No! I was just uncertain! I'd never meant to fib it or anything. Honest!" Axel's features gentled and he reached out to shift blond spikes from obscuring innocent ocean blue.

"We were, weren't we… something inside is telling me that," Roxas said in barely over a whisper. He allowed gloved fingers to gently lift his chin and he found himself but a few inches away from the other male.

"We were more than just that, Roxas."

For a moment, Axel's expression was guarded, his eyes steeled, as if waiting to see Roxas' reaction. But the blonde did nothing that Axel had prepared himself for. That statement had come to Roxas as more of a fact which he accepted with no complains.

When he was certain there wouldn't be any adverse reaction, Axel wearily rested his forehead on the slighter male's shoulder. How long had he been deprived of such contact…

"We were together, you say… Did… Did you ever try to get me back? After I left…" Roxas inquired softly into Axel's ear.

"So many times, Roxas. So. Many. Times."

A giddy warmth filled the boy and a large, genuine smile graced his lips.

"Axel, what's going to happen to me? What's happening to me NOW?"

"I can't answer either question, Roxas… I don't even quite know how I got here…"

"I didn't kill you back then, right?" The blonde asked, suddenly frantic. The question was pretty much overdue but better late than never.

"No. No, it just meant that I could never return to the town."

"But if that's the case, what about now?" This was getting so puzzling all over again.

"One thing I know for sure, Rox, is that I'm alive but you… I don't think I'll ever be able to see you as a being again. Y'know we're not actually in the real world. This tower isn't actually tangible. This tower is… - Oh hell. Look, it's probably some semi-consciousness thing."

Ocean blue orbs widened. It was some kind of sick joke, right? Just when some things were finally looking up and beginning to fall into place, it all doesn't make a difference anymore?!

Axel chose to answer the obtrusive question that didn't need to be vocalized.

"You've returned to Sora, Roxas. You're now the missing half of him returned..."

The redhead would have continued to speak had it not been for the small hand that held his arm in a vice grip.

"No. D-Don't explain anymore…"

Axel obliged, bowing his head in response.

"This is a complete mess and- and I'm scared, Axel… I don't want to not see you again; I want things to go back to how they were; I want to remember, Axel. I want to at least have those memories!"

Reassuring arms encircled the blonde and he took what pleasure he could from the familiarity of it. Axel pressed his cheek against the boy's and shut his eyes tightly. Despite all the frustration, Roxas felt complete for the first time in his life. He wasn't happy but he would make do with being able to spend time with Axel. It was almost as if he had his old life back; that everything was going to be alright.

But nothing could cover the glaring facts.

He had been erased. He would never have his body back nor would he ever have his heart back.

"Why me…?" Roxas asked, though not really expecting an answer. Axel pulled away a little and looked searchingly into those blue eyes that had begun to glisten without the boy's knowledge.

"I don't know," was the simple reply.

With his thumb, Axel wiped away fallen tears and tenderly cupped the young face. Somehow, perhaps an old forgotten habit, Roxas understood it was consent that Axel's actions seemed to ask for and he gave it, wholeheartedly.

"I'll remember enough for the both of us," said the redhead as he moved to bridge the remaining distance between them.

There was, however, one other thing that was said and that which seared into Roxas' soul, tearing open a floodgate.

"_There's only one thing you need know._

_You will always belong to ME. _

_My Roxas."_

**-End of Prologue-**

* * *

**Author's Note: **I really have a lot to say. So a systematic approach then. Firstly, I apologise for the unbelievably long hiatus of any of my projects. It's been one hell of a year and admittedly, most negative stuff is all due to my disorganisation, procrastination and so on... So, yes, i neglected the stories for a variety of reasons like the ever impressive homework, lack of interest, yadayada. Secondly, to those who have been awaiting an update for the story that i first started on for Kingdom Hearts, no, i have not given up on it. I will see it through to the end. It's one of my goals for this hols. (HELL YES, THE END OF YEARS IS OVER!) But i must warn that updates will probably be not too frequent. I'm still working out an appropriate storyline. Thirdly, alas i've given up on the daunting task of fitting in this current storyline with Nobodies Highschool's. I wasn't clear on the direction and my wants for the story so again, it was delayed. I was attempting to convey Roxas' unknown side of the story because i've yet to see anyone actually maximise the potential of the Axel-Roxas relationship that was so strongly hinted in the games. i just felt so much was left unsaid and could be easily woven into a totally heart warming tale when left to the imagination of those who know of KH. So, this is what i'm going to try and do with this story. Please show me your support! Because really, I truly feel a lot for the bond between these two characters. Cheers!


	2. Welcome

A/N: I'm a bloody sodding procrastinator and i haven't the foggiest how i'll complete this before MAY 30th, but we'll see. I apologise to whoever was actually waiting for an update... cheers.

* * *

The castle walls were as dark as night; the corridors seemed to stretch on in a never ending path; long shadows lay cast on surfaces from the dim glow of candles perched upon gothic holders… This was the intimidating structure that looked down on the world of eternal night; the glaring centre of attraction.

This was the Castle That Never Was.

* * *

Something stirred beneath rumpled white sheets. First, a tuft of startling red hair peeked from under the covers. Then a fumbling pale hand emerged, gripping onto a puffy pillow for dear life. The person struggled some more before resigning with a loud groan. Following a brutal fling, the white blanket rose and landed in a messy heap as a lanky body slowly dragged itself off the bed with a string of muttered curses.

"I am going to _kill_ whatever's making that crap load of noise…"

The thin redhead made for the door which he yanked open just in time to see a hyper flicker of blond streak past. Although, it was more likely that everything was moving faster than the groggy, addled brain of his.

"Oi, Demyx!" The Moehogged ball of energy skidded to an abrupt halt and backpedalled. With a radiant smile, the bubbly male greeted the man.

"What the hell is going on…?"

"Superior just brought in a newbie!"

Mildly annoyed, Axel grunted his response, leaving the blonde with a mission to update him after he returned from having a look-see. No one really had to spell out who was being referred to as 'superior'; it was understood. The special right to the title belonged to their platinum haired leader. Those in the upper ranks humored him with the appellation; the lower members did so out of a hint of fear. Axel never really cared much for it, though. He didn't have much patience for the organization, more so ever since the events of not too long ago in Castle Oblivion.

The redhead was about midway successful in returning to the warm comfort of his bed behind closed doors when an obstructive limb resisted it.

"Hey, Ax? Why not… you… come see… for yourself?", Demyx chirped, punctuating his words with pants from attempting near futilely to grab and bring his friend's hand into a lock with his own.

Everybody knew that Axel really wasn't one to be trifled with when he wasn't in a good mood. He could seem good-humored and all but that could change. Very, very quickly. But much to his chagrin, nothing he did seemed to faze Demyx. And it just happened that he was the only one the blonde chose not to ever be intimidated by. And his not being scared of Axel was saying something because Demyx was frightened even by a toothpick. (It was sharp, he'd said) The redhead was certain his reputation just plummeted down everytime the blonde appeared unaffected by his brusqueness.

This was one of those times.

"Let go of me!"

That went in one of Demyx's ears and flew out the other. Blatantly ignoring the tone, Demyx dragged with all his might, a very reluctant redhead down the corridor, a mad grin on his face as he continued to chatter in the whiny voice he knew would tick Axel off something bad.

In stark contrast to the dominant black interior, the meeting chamber was a startling, pristine white. Arranged in a circle with ascending heights were colossal chairs of white stone. Evidently everyone was aware of the new arrival except him. Must've slipped by me yesterday night, Axel figured. His patrol duty had been particularly tedious.

The loud chattering that resembled a market resounded in his ears as it echoed about. Applying pressure to the migraine hammering away with great irritation, Axel scaled the height to his seat in rapid successive jumps.

An abrupt silence fell the second the large wooden door opened with a boom. All eyes darted down to the ground level where standing beside the impressive figure of their leader was a comparatively much smaller form.

The new addition to the partially destroyed ranks.

Number thirteen.

"This, my people, is Roxas. The thirteenth member of our great organization. The Key of Destiny."

Axel raised a lazy eyebrow and gave a snort of unmistakable mockery. It was, however, clearly not the smartest thing to do since given the silence and echoing, the intended softness was amplified till it carried itself about the whole chamber. Demyx buried his head in his hands and Axel swore he heard a whimper.

Xemnas, the Mystery, raised his head slowly until his eerie gaze landed right in line with defiant emerald. The stony expression on the leader's face did not waver, his emotions tightly controlled. If he was angered, it would not have shown either way.

"Axel. How good of you to grace us with your presence. It must have been trying to leave your bed… am I wrong?" The deep chilling voice rang strong, a false lilt embedded in it. Several cloaked figures snickered at the suddenly obvious state of dress. Being dragged off by Demyx and too tied up with freeing his hand from the blonde's grip, he'd forgotten to grab a top.

"In fact, it was. Oh how you know me so well, superior. Sector 3 had been hell yesterday, did you hear?" Falling for the jibe and giving the man the satisfaction was the last thing he'd do.

"But I see you managed to complete the task unscathed."

With a smirk, Axel drawled his reply which was whatever was at the tip of his tongue. Something that more often than not landed him in trouble. "Aye. Of course! Didn't expect anything less did you, superior? Nothing's too hard for Fire-"

He never learned.

"How appropriate for you to say that, number eight. The Key of Destiny shall be your responsibility then! I'd expect with your great capabilities, you'd be the most apt for this assignment," Xemnas declared, barely bothering to conceal the iciness of his tone.

Axel felt his eye twitch.

"Don't fail me, Flurry Of Dancing Flames. Though, as you said, nothing's too hard for you. Am I right?"

Gritting his teeth, the redhead grunted his assent.

The one named Roxas looked up towards the figure atop one of those massive chairs. Easily picking out the half-naked body, he sought to see the face of his mentor more clearly.

It was impossible to make out anything with the hood pulled over but Axel found himself watching his new charge.

Amidst the dark shadows cast by the cloak, Axel saw ocean blue.

* * *

"Way to go, Axel." Said redhead glared down at his friend trailing beside him. With herculean effort, he resisted the urge to strangle the dirty blonde. "So whaddya gonna do?"

"What sort of daft question is that? I'll show the poor sod the ropes and whatever else dear Superior finds amusing at my expense…"

Demyx raised his eyebrows in shock at how submissive Axel was being. Well, submissive by the redhead's standards.

"To hell with what you want to say, Dem. I'm just too fucking sick of wasting my energy thinking of ways to get out of it. The organization shit is just fucking tedious and fighting it merely makes it worse."

"But isn't making a fuss the whole point of all that you've been doing?"

Axel paused for a moment but thereafter resumed his bored-with-the-world expression. "So I'm losing my touch. Whatever. Besides, who said I couldn't give the kid hell? He's mine to do anything I want with. So as long as he learns the ways of this crap, it's fine."

* * *

Just one day had been all it took for Roxas to develop a sort of loathing for the redhead. Their lesson had begun with him snapping almost instantaneously at everything Roxas asked. As it were, impatience on Axel's part was more than blatantly obvious. It needn't be said that he was unbelievably reluctant to be understanding.

That aside, Roxas had been introduced to the hundreds of rooms that lay within the massive castle. Each member had a room for themselves and there were two sparring halls that spanned a good hundred and fifty meter each amongst a gazillion other facilities. In addition, the compound had an extensive library that would have made Merlin green with envy. The most gorgeous thing about the rather morbid structure was, however, the grounds just outside the main doors. Encased within high walls was lush greenery that thrived on the light of the enormous moon. Small ponds and tiny streams found its way about and the glorious calm of the environment just called to Roxas.

--

Unwanted light abruptly blasted through the opened door, glaring straight into a blurry eyed blonde. Roxas grumbled and fumbled, trying to get his rudely awakened mind up to speed. His small body sluggishly dragged itself into a semi-upright position as a rude voice penetrated the initial silence of his room.

"Get up and get out."

He knew its owner.

"I'm sorry, w-what time is it?" He might be annoyed but Roxas still knew how important seniority was around here. Even if his mentor was a stark exception.

"Half past seven. Are you going to defy me? I already said 'GET OUT'." Axel repeated slightly louder this time.

"But how can that be, sir? I don't see any sunlight," Roxas was banking on the belief that questions never hurt.

A look of pure ridicule and disbelief swamped the redhead's face before he curtly turned around, hand on the doorknob. The blonde wasn't wholly certain but he thought he noticed that his senior had stiffened.

"In this world there is no light," Axel scoffed with a minute shake of his head.

"You have one minute to get your ass out there."

Roxas winced at the thunderous slamming of his door. He pitied the poor thing.

Quite literally jumping out of bed he scurried about, hastily grabbing the bare necessities before mechanically dashing out of the room.

The words repeated itself over and over in his head and brought a small frown to the blonde's boyish face. Despite how innocent a comment it was, Roxas was sure that there was something hidden in what Axel had said.

* * *

A/N: i practically squealed (thank goodness i was alone in the classroom) when i went to wikipedia and subsequently the official website to see for myself that the release date had FINALLY been announced. And now i'm cracking my head over whether or not to buy the special ed NDSi or stick to the NDSL... dammit.

Reviews are more than appreciated although i believe that goes without saying. Thanks for reading!


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